On eBay, the highest bid wins -- unless the item on sale is a laser printer from CompAtlanta and the bidder happens to be Canadian.

That's what a tax consultant discovered last week when he tried to buy a printer on eBay, but was refused by the vendor when it was discovered he lived in Vancouver.

David Ingram received notification that his winning bid of $24.50 had been canceled, along with this message: "At the present time, we do not ship to, or accept bids from, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany or any other country that does not support the United States in our efforts to rid the world of Saddam Hussein. If you are not with us, you are against us."

Ingram's .ca address sparked the notice from CompAtlanta, based in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Canada is one of a number of countries that said it would not support an American invasion of Iraq without United Nations' approval.

"I've made a winning bid,'' Ingram said. "To discriminate against me because I'm a Canadian is ridiculous."